please log in to view this image Wigan Athletic host Tottenham Hotspur at the DW Stadium on Saturday 27th April (KO 15:00) in the 35th Round of the 2012-13 Premier League season. Wigan come into the match in 18th place in the Table with 31 points, while Spurs are 5th in the Table on 61 points. This will be the 17th time the two teams have met since Wigan Athletic gained promotion to the Premier League in the 2005-06 season. Wigan Athletic were formed in 1932 after the demise of Wigan Borough and they gained their Football League status in 1978. The first meeting between the two clubs came at Wigan's JJB Stadium in November 2005 and resulted in a 2-1 win for Spurs with goals from Robbie Keane and Edgar Davids. Wigan's goal was scored by Lee McCulloch late in the game. The reverse fixture at White Hart Lane in February 2006 was a 2-2 draw with Tottenham's goals coming from Mido and Jermain Defoe and Wigan's from Andreas Johansson who had put the Lancashire club ahead twice. Spurs also took four points off Wigan in the 2006-07 season with a 3-1 home win in November 2006 with goals from Jermain Defoe, Dimitar Berbatov and Aaron Lennon after Wigan's Henri Camara had put the Lattics ahead. The points were shared in a 6-goal thriller at the JJB Stadium in April 2007 with a goal from Dimitar Berbatov and a Robbie Keane brace for Spurs while Emil Heskey, Leighton Baines and Paul Scharner were on the scoresheet for Wigan. Tottenham Hotspur once again took four Premier League points off Wigan in the 2007-08 season with a 4-0 win at the Lane in November 2007. Jermaine Jenas scored twice and there were also goals for Aaron Lennon and Darren Bent. Dimitar Berbatov scored for Spurs in the 1-1 draw at Wigan in April 2008 with Emil Heskey grabbing the equaliser. The 2008-09 season saw Wigan take four points after a goalless draw at White Hart Lane and a 1-0 win in January 2009 thanks to Maynor Figueroa injury time winner. Spurs beat Wigan in the FA Cup third round that season 3-1 with a brace of goals from Roman Pavlyuchenko and one from Luka Modric. Wigan's goal was scored by Henri Camara. Maximum points were taken by Spurs in the 2009-10 season after a massive 9-1 home win in November 2009, which saw Jermain Defoe become only the third player after Alan Shearer and Andy Cole to score five goals in a Premier League match. There were also goals from Peter Crouch, Aaron Lennon, Niko Krajcar and David Bentley. Wigan's goal was scored by Paul Scharner. Amazingly enough, Spurs only led 1-0 at half-time and the eight goals scored in the second half by Spurs all came within 39 minutes. Jermain Defoe's goal and a brace from Roman Pavlyuchenko saw Spurs to a 3-0 win at Wigan in February 2010. 2010-11 was another good one for Wigan, who took four points off Spurs. They won 1-0 at White Hart Lane in August 2010 with a second half goal from Hugo Rodallega. The match at the DW Stadium was goalless. The away fixture earlier last season in September 2011 resulted in a 2-1 win from Spurs with goals from Rafael van der Vaart after just 3 minutes and Garerth Bale after 23 minutes. Wigan pulled a goal back through Mohamed Diame five minutes into the second half, but had Steve Gohouri sent off after receiving a second yellow card. Spurs went two goals up from Gareth Bale and Luka Modric in the first half of the match at White Hart Lane in January 2012 and Bale added a third goal before James McArthur scored 10 minutes from time to make it Tottenham 3-1 Wigan. Wigan won 1-0 at White Hart Lane in November 2012 with Ben Watson scoring the match winning goal after 56 minutes. Overall, Spurs have won 8 of the 16 matches played so far with Wigan winning 3 and 5 matches drawn. please log in to view this image please log in to view this image Full History of Tottenham Hotspur v Wigan Athletic Matches 2005-2013 please log in to view this image They Played for Spurs & Wigan... Mark Bowen Michael Brown Pascal Chimbonda Erik Edman Alex Hunter (with Borough) David Gwilan Jones Hossam Mido John Moran (with Borough) Wilson Palacios Reto Ziegler please log in to view this image Tottenham Hotspur Premier League Squad Numbers 1992-2013 Wigan Athletic Premier League Player's Squad Numbers 2005-2013 please log in to view this image please log in to view this image
This must be one of the shortest histories in your 'book' THFC. First game between the two clubs 2005? Highlights the non football credentials of Wigan as a place I suppose compared to their towering rugby history. Let's hope Spurs great footballing history counts in this one.
Bale only needs another 2 goals to become our first 20 league goals in a season man since Klinsmann in 94/95. It'll be interesting to see whether we stick with the 4-3-3 that finished the game so well against City. Be nice to have Lennon back in contention, if he makes it.
Tottenham's away form this season has been outstanding. We're currently on 29 points after 16 away Premier League matches which equals our best-ever points haul set in season 1995-96 (19 matches). Our 9 away wins so far this season is a new club Premier League record, beating the 7 away wins first set in 1993-94 and equaled four more times.... please log in to view this image ...we've got three more away Premier League matches to play this season at Wigan, Chelsea and Stoke so hopefully we can add another half-dozen or more points to our current total.
Wigan were very lively against City and had two gilt edged chances to take the lead so we under estimate them at our peril. This should be a fairly comfortable Spurs win.
Wigan have been struggling to score lately. They don't have a consistent goalscorer. I can see them giving Spurs a lot of trouble, but being picked off 1-0 or 2-0 with Bale and/or Defoe scoring.
No I'm not I don't think. What I'm saying is that we mustn't be over confident,if we take them seriously it should be a comfortable win judging by where the two teams are. If we under estimate them by thinking it's an automatic win then we could have trouble.
The main thing that we have to look out for in this one is overconfidence. Just because City folded it doesn't follow that Wigan, who are fighting for their lives, will. I'd settle for a hard fought 1-0 and the intensity of our second half performance on Sunday being repeated for the full ninety.
Given his lack of game time this season, for Hudd to have four assists is really pretty impressive, hopefully AVB takes note. My team: Hugo Walker Daws Vertonghen Benny Hudd Moussa Dempsey Bale Holtby Defoe (Lennon in for Dempsey if fit)
I wonder how few Spurs fans want us to line up any different than we did in the second half against City. More of the same for me, please. The thing I really want, and I think will happen, is that everyone on the team understands that dropped points in any of the remaining games (except, probably, Chelsea) mean no CL as things stand. A draw in any of these games is a disaster, and should be desperately avoided. More reason why I want to see the team that finished against Man City. It looked best able to cut through teams parking the bus, which may be the biggest problem we need to overcome.
redwhite,everybody thought Arsenal and City would beat us,they didn't so why does everybody think that Chelsea will.? You say a draw will be a disaster but will Arsenal and Chelsea win all their remaining matches,I doubt it? City are buckling too. It was a scratchy win against Wigan and a defeat against us. I've a sneaky feeling we'll make it.
Unbelievable stat about Bale, PNP. 20 years nearly! Well I'm gonna state the obvious - it's a must win. If we set up like we did against city in the first half, we'll huff and puff but get no where. We need to create spaces and exploit Wigan with pace. My team: Lloris Walker daws Verts benny Hudd holtby Lennon dembele bale Defoe Difficult to actually put this team on paper, as I expect bale to operate centrally with holtby playing on the left at times. It's mainly to show that I want dembele further forward. - I'm sure u get what I mean here. If Lennon isn't fit: Lloris Walker daws Verts benny Hudd dembele Dempsey holtby bale Defoe If we don't have Lennon, I want us to use bale out wide to open Wigan up. It'll allow hudd, dembele and holtby much more Time on the ball to create chances and find spaces.
Here's one. I used to be a big fan of Thud but earlier this season was ready to see him go. Yes , he is possibly back to his best but I think his defensive work can be erratic and I would prefer to at least start with Parker. Maybe we can start with Parker and Thud and move Moussa forward behind Defoe with Bale and Lennon in their natural wing positions.
Going to away to the Barcelona-possessed Wigan side is never a great prospect though our lads couldn't be coming off of the back of a much bigger win than City so confidence is high. I'd actually like to see a start for Hudd now, I've been extremely critical of him this season but his last 2/3 cameos have been brilliant and Parker is still yet to impress me this season, our defence isn't greatly protected with Parker in the team so I'd rather have a player like Hudd (or Carroll) who can at least get the ball out wide when we're not on the defensive. Team I'd go for: Lloris, Walker, Dawson, Vertonghen, Ekotto Dembele, Hudd Dempsey, Holtby, Bale Defoe Subs: Friedel, Caulker, Naughton, Parker, Carroll, Sig, Ade If Lennon's fit then I'd stick him on the bench to start with in place of one of either Ade or Carroll. The way Wigan are playing we'll be in for a very tough game, they'll likely come at us a bit so that'll work in our favour as I don't think there's a better counter-attacking team than us in the League. It's a must win for both sides for different reasons, a draw won't help either team much, so on that basis, I think it'll be 3-3 . COYS!
I'd stick with the 433 or whatever it was that we had in the second half but I'd keep Parker in ahead of Holtby, we're playing away and I'm not sure a midfield of Hudd/Holtby/Dembele is very defensively sound. The last thing we need is to concede the first goal on Sunday so we can always bring Holtby on if we need to dominate the game more but I'd have thought Defoe, Bale and Lennon(hopefully) would be able pick Wigan off on the counter. Lloris Walker, Dawson, Vertonghen, Benny Parker, Huddlestone, Dembele Lennon, Defoe, Bale.
Really disagree with including Parker at the expense of Holtby. With Huddlestone and Parker there is potential negativity, do we really need to be so defensive against Wigan? Holtby is a spark quite a bright spark, and his role in the revival with Huddlestone should not be overlooked plus Dembele is there as well don't forget.
